


handy helper

by sarangway



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Fluff, M/M, jungwoo is a preschool assistant teacher, lucas is the older bro of one of his students, v soft u will enjoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 02:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14802224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarangway/pseuds/sarangway
Summary: kim jungwoo was the best teacher in oliver wong's opinion. lucas had to agree.





	handy helper

Kim Jungwoo didn’t quite know what to expect when he signed up to be a preschool assistant at Dream Preschool, but he was sure that it would be something along the lines of total chaos.

Luckily for him his predictions were rather off and instead he was greeted with a class full of curious and wide-eyed four and five-year-olds. The atmosphere was strange at first, the silence seeming out of place considering how colorful and overly decorated the space was. The little boys and girls were sitting on a rug over the carpeted floor, all staring up at him with apprehensive looks. The noona that had introduced him to this job introduced Jungwoo as a new assistant (or Handy Helper, as she put it), which made the classroom erupt in tiny voices shouting to be heard over each other. Mrs. Lee put her finger to lips wordlessly and the kids quieted down, raising their hands for questions.

“Yes, Ayeon.”

“What’s your name?” Everyone nodded as if the little girl’s question was just about the best thing they could ask, tugging a smile at Jungwoo’s lips.

“I’m Kim Jungwoo.”

“Hyung, what’s your favorite color?” One of the little boys had completely stood up to ask, his hand still shot up in the air with such an immense amount of force for such a tiny body.

“I like the color green-”

“ _Woah_ , you too? Hyung, we’re gonna be best friends.” The teacher gestured for everyone to settle down as she told them to pick out the book they wanted to hear today, causing a ruckus as everyone rushed off to the bookshelves. Mrs. Lee turned to apologize for how rowdy the child was, explaining that he was _Oliver Wong_ and by far the most energetic child she had ever met. Jungwoo assured her that it was alright, and he would get used to it quickly, explaining the babysitting experience he had prior to this.

And he kept his promise, getting used to all the excitement in the room quicker than he expected. The children had taken a liking to his soft-spoken mannerisms and the cuteness he would use while playing with them, helping even the shyest kids come out of their shells a bit more by the end of the day. Mrs. Lee expressed so much gratitude that Jungwoo felt proud of himself by the end of his first week, picking up the tiny scraps of paper the kids had littered around the classroom while he had a break during their recess.

The classroom felt stationary when they were outside playing, low dividers between each learning space seeming even tinier without a comparison to the small children that usually run around. The favorite space seemed to be where all the science stuff was placed, along with the class rabbit that everyone was so fond of. Jungwoo crouched next to the cage to pet through the metal gently, hearing the sounds of screaming outside and closing his eyes for a moment. He was content with this job, surprisingly, and found himself growing keener of children as the time went. Jungwoo stood back up after playing with the rabbit a bit more, cleaning up the cluttered toys on the ground before everyone would make their way back inside.

If there was one time in the day that Jungwoo seemed to love the most, it fell right at eleven thirty in the morning when everyone would sit on the benches outside and eat their food, spilling drinks all over the wood and dropping their beloved desserts and bursting into tears. Despite how attentive he had to be to watch for any food fighting or other fighting, he appreciated the recharge in energy he got to continue through the other half of the day. Often times he would bring a packed lunch that was almost overfilled because he knew kids like Oliver would crowd around and ask if Jungwoo’s mommy packed his lunch for him, too. Then he would say he made it himself, and they would all ask to try it. By the time he was able to eat it himself, about half of it was left – not that he was complaining, because the little smiles he got were filling enough.

Oliver was still as interesting as Jungwoo had decided when he had first met him, a quick friendship growing between them. It wasn’t like Jungwoo had planned on playing favorites at the beginning, but Oliver had set his sights on him and refused to back down. It was easy to find him sitting on Jungwoo’s lap or wrapping his arms around his neck while he read a book for everyone during Rug Time. Mrs. Lee was worried that it bothered Jungwoo at first, but he found himself appreciating the tiny toddler so much that he didn’t mind.

The younger boy would drag his backpack over to Jungwoo on their breaks and show him the drawings of cool singers he saw on screen – something he started doing when Jungwoo told him he liked to sing. “This is my hyung singing, too. He’s really awesome! I bet you’d like him a lot, hyung.”

“Really, what’s his name?” Jungwoo’s hand instinctively went to pet Oliver’s hair, but he wiggled out of his lap before he could.

“His name is Lucas! He’s about this…” he jumped in the air to attempt an accurate measurement. “…tall! He’s really cool and he plays games with me too.” He was about to go on until he was distracted by the class rabbit jumping around in the cage, causing him to run off and leave Jungwoo smiling at him.

Lucas wasn’t brought up much after that, only in passing moments of conversation when someone would ask who helped Oliver with his homework, or when he would show Jungwoo a snack that Lucas snuck into his lunchbox that day. He didn’t have a chance to meet Lucas until it came to a short day where everyone would be going home at lunchtime rather than three in the afternoon as usual. Oliver normally left with his friends to wait in front of the school for his parents or Lucas, but today he had to wait a bit longer until his brother had finished with his classes today.

Jungwoo was gathering the homework that the kids had turned into today when he heard Oliver scramble out of the chair he was sitting in and scream, full on running towards a mystery man that had walked in and headbutting him into a hug, causing Jungwoo to gasp at the violent display of affection. The man lifted up Oliver and was smiling brightly, which made Jungwoo’s heart skip a beat for some reason. Oliver tugged on his sleeve and pointed directly at Jungwoo (startling him to no end, especially since he had spaced out) telling the man that he was one of his teachers. He also whispered that he should call him Handy Helper, though, which would have made Jungwoo chuckle if he didn’t choose to pretend he didn’t hear it.

“Hyung, this is Lucas!” Jungwoo felt a bit stupid that it hadn’t clicked earlier, but he clasped his hands together and smiled.

“Ah, really? It’s nice to meet you, Lucas. Oliver is a really great student.”

“He is? He doesn’t give too much trouble?” Lucas glanced at Oliver who was pouting at the mere _suggestion_ that he would make trouble. “He talks about you a lot.”

“Me?” Jungwoo was a bit surprised to hear that, not really thinking he was someone worth talking about past the classroom in his opinion.

Lucas put Oliver back down so he could gather his belongings from the cubby, allowing them to have a private moment for a few minutes. “So, Mr. Kim, am I as handsome as you expected?”

“I…can’t say I know what you mean…” Jungwoo tilted his head and Lucas clutched his heart in response.

“Are you saying I’m not handsome, Mr. Kim? Such a bold insult, I wonder why Oliver loves you so much.” Lucas kept his hurt expression until Jungwoo looked astonished, which made him laugh so loudly that Jungwoo quickly saw the resemblance to Oliver. “I’m just kidding! Thanks for taking care of Oliver so well.”

“It’s no problem, I love having Oliver around.”

Oliver had finished grabbing what he needed and ran into Lucas’s leg again, peering up at Jungwoo with a smile. Lucas thanked him again before going home with Oliver, leaving Jungwoo alone to consider how his heart was still beating like a maniac even when the man had left.

Lucas didn’t come by again for a while, and Jungwoo wasn’t complaining. Oliver was excelling at his studies beyond most of his classmates, his grasp of reading rather impressive for just being five, always bringing a new one off the bookshelves to have Jungwoo help him with. They would often spill over into their break times, leaving them in a corner on some bean bag chairs while the others played outside or scoured their lunch boxes for a snack before lunch later on. Jungwoo enjoyed his company, despite loving all of the kids in the classroom, and Mrs. Lee had noticed it too. She praised Jungwoo for bringing him on the right track since he had been so rowdy in the beginning of the year it was nearly impossible to get him to sit down and focus. Jungwoo didn’t want to take credit for Oliver’s hard work, though.

Since the class had been so well-behaved the beginning of the year, Mrs. Kim announced that they would be throwing a party to celebrate their hard work. Of course, everyone agreed it was a great idea and Mrs. Kim told them to bring anyone they would like. Jungwoo didn’t hear much of the speech since he was spaced out as he often was lately, but he tuned in when Oliver shouted to ask if he could bring his pet dog, as well. That was quickly shot down and led to pouting from the entire class, making Jungwoo smile and come back into focus. Mrs. Kim asked him during nap time if he could bring some snacks like baked goods and Jungwoo agreed wholeheartedly, always ready to help out when she needed. Jungwoo knew that she had a family of her own she looked after, including a middle school boy and high school girl that proved to be rather difficult to handle at the same time. Jungwoo didn’t mind making a few cookies and cupcakes.

He was lucky that he overshot how many he made since so many parents and a few siblings decided to join the party, surprising him when he came in a few minutes late to find the room filled with people. It was strange in comparison to the usual tiny toddlers running around and making the space feel bigger than it really was. He weaved his way around the parents to set the treats down on the table in the back, where Oliver was found hiding under. Jungwoo stooped down and said hello softly, making him pop his head up to look at who it was.

“Hyung!” Oliver tugged for Jungwoo to come under the table with him but he pulled back quickly before he toppled over. “You won’t believe this but…my parents aren’t coming today.”

There was a tiny trace of disappointment in Oliver’s voice. “Why not?”

“Because they have _work_! How silly is that?” He let out a sigh and frowned before crawling out to look at what Jungwoo set down. He took a cookie before continuing to whine. “Lucas-hyung isn’t coming until nine.”

A brief glance at the clock made Jungwoo smile, a hand petting the younger one’s head as he stood back up and took a cookie for himself. “It’s nine now, so he should be coming any time soon-” Before Jungwoo could finish his sentence, a large man fumbled his way through the room and smiled warmly when he saw Oliver was talking to Jungwoo. “See, there he is.”

Lucas took a cupcake from the table and grinned as Oliver gasped, greeting Jungwoo and patting his little brother’s head fondly. Once he was sure that his brother had showed up, Oliver ran off to play with his other friends comfortably. Jungwoo was left alone with Lucas (or as alone as it could get while in a crowded room of parents and other family).

Being left alone with him made Jungwoo do that horrid thing where his heart would start jumping around again, and he was left with a flipping in his stomach that made him feel closer in age to the toddlers jumping around than the adults. Lucas finished the cupcake off wordlessly, grabbing a cookie and letting out an exaggerated sigh. “ _Woah_ , these are so good. I wonder where they bought them.”

“I made them.” Jungwoo forced a smile and Lucas turned to him with his mouth agape.

“No way, these are so good…” He stared at the cookie in admiration, glancing between it and Jungwoo a few times before taking a small bite. Another sigh, this time a bit louder if possible. Jungwoo’s smile softened into something sincerer.

“I’m glad you could make it, Oliver seemed a bit worried that you wouldn’t be able to.” Lucas just laughed again at this point, taking another bite and nodding, both of their attention turning to Oliver who was now playing with a few kids in front of the rabbit cage. It was true that Oliver had grown attached to Jungwoo easily, but Jungwoo had encouraged him to bond with his classmates first and foremost. He was lucky that he did, because he had a feeling that if he hadn’t said anything Oliver would have stuck to him exclusively.

“You know, I’m glad I came.” Lucas glanced over at Jungwoo and gave him a full-teeth smile. “Cause I wanted to see your face again.”

Before Jungwoo could properly process what just came out of the boy’s mouth, he had already trotted off to the other side of the room.

Maybe it was weird to say that he was forming a crush on his favorite student’s older brother, but he was somewhat ready to accept it when he realized that he decided to pick up Oliver after school _every day_ now. At first he pegged it to coincidence – maybe their parents were just busier this week at work. But when it added up to two weeks in a row he let himself accept that, no, he was doing this on purpose. Jungwoo wasn’t used to this undivided attention, especially when he had it from Oliver on one side as an older brother figure and now Lucas as a romantic interest.

Jungwoo was a rather soft-spoken person at hard and this proved difficult when it came to romantic interactions. Despite being very cute and caring, he would often find himself spacing out after overthinking everything. Because most people aren’t exactly as demanding on a room as Lucas is, this would make it difficult to carry a conversation without it dying out and falling into a silence.

With Lucas, though, he didn’t have to worry about that. The kid had the same energy as Oliver and his classmates and would easily carrying a conversation with himself, content at the occasional _mm_ ’s and small comments that Jungwoo would chip in. Lucas would hang around the classroom after hours, Oliver playing in the corner or reading a book by himself while Lucas would hang over Jungwoo’s shoulder as he tidied up or prepared the lesson plan for his noona to take a load off of her schedule. He would always offer to help but Jungwoo would firmly deny, reminding him that this was his job and Lucas wasn’t even supposed to be here after hours. Lucas would just flash that silly smile of his and Jungwoo would ignore the rules for a little longer.

                Jungwoo wouldn’t take Lucas’s phone number no matter how hard he tried to push it on him. He would leave it in notes, on the chalkboard, in pencil on Jungwoo’s folder – any creative spot he would notice. Each time he would sigh to himself and erase it or throw away the paper, knowing full well how inappropriate it would be for him to be texting him when Oliver was his student. There was no way that boy was getting in the way of him doing a good job at this assistant job when he would get a better chance at a full-time position.

Not that Mrs. Lee wasn’t rather excited when she noticed Lucas pursuing Jungwoo, insisting that he was young and should take all the opportunities he gets (which he wasn’t sure how to take since it sounded like he would have few opportunities). Jungwoo was stubborn still.

Unfortunately for him, a field trip was coming up for everyone to go the zoo, and there was a form going home for any volunteers from family who wanted to go with them. Jungwoo stiffened when he watched the papers being handed out and everyone scramble to put it in their cubbies, knowing full well that Lucas was going to come with Oliver whether he liked it or not. He cursed himself for having accepted his crush since he knew it was going to be more difficult to hide now.

Field trip day was a bit hectic for the teachers, specifically since they had decided to merge the two preschool classes together for this trip to save on money. The volunteers (including Lucas of course) had already signed the permission forms and everyone met in front of the school to load onto the bus together. It was a bit of a drive from here, but it was a comfortable bus they had rented so it would be okay. Jungwoo came out of the classroom and to the front looking a bit frazzled, stopping on the walk over to smooth his hair using his reflection on a window – to which he stopped himself and scowled for caring. He walked up to the crowd and was met with Lucas towering over the other parents and guardians with Oliver on his shoulders.

“Lucas, that’s _so_ unsafe, put him down.”

“Are you sure you aren’t just jealous, Jungwoo? Would you like me to give you a ride after?” Lucas wiggled his eyebrows and Oliver whined, insisting that it was his turn this time and Jungwoo should give him one next. Jungwoo just blinked, his face reddening at the suggestion. It was better to just look away and pretend he didn’t hear it instead.

Jungwoo was lucky that he was sitting with Mrs. Kim instead of Lucas – since the teachers had to sit in the absolute front while the parents were either directly behind or in the all the way back. This allowed all the students to be watched more easily than if all the parents were gathered in the front. Jungwoo glanced back a few times and noticed that Oliver had sat next to Lucas in the back, playing with his fingers as he babbled on about whatever five-year-old’s held dear to their heart at that age. It was cute, he admitted to himself as he watched Lucas fondly watched Oliver talked. His admiration was somewhat broken when Lucas felt the staring and looked up to shoot a wink at his direction. Back to facing the front of the bus it was.

Getting to the zoo was easy enough, navigating it with a ton of tiny children less so. Jungwoo found himself gravitating towards Oliver and Lucas without thinking, trailing behind with them as Oliver talked about all the animals he loved and wanted to see, switching between holding Jungwoo and Lucas’s hands every few minutes. He was screaming and running towards the lions now, where a lot of his classmates had gathered around to watch the giant cats roaming. The little girls would screech if the lion would look their way, scurrying off to their parents with wide smiles and curious eyes.

Oliver held out his arms at Jungwoo for him to pick him up, to which he quickly abided, walking closer to the glass and pointing out the three female lions lounging about beyond the giant male. “Do you want a picture?” He heard Mrs. Lee’s voice from behind him and saw Lucas waving his hands with wide eyes, but Oliver spoke up before both of them.

“Yes! Hyung come here!” He gestured for Lucas to come over and he hesitated, Jungwoo giving him a smile to say yes, it was fine, and once he did the giant lumbered over to grin next to them. Oliver held up a peace sign next to Jungwoo’s eye and Lucas’s, causing them to both burst into laughter right as the shutter went off.

Mrs. Lee looked over it and smiled at them. “It’s a pretty shot.”

When she dropped a printed version of it on his folder the next day, Jungwoo agreed that it was the perfect shot. Maybe it was weird that he stored it in his wallet for now, but he just did it to remember to show Lucas later.

Later took a surprising amount of time considering how often Lucas had been coming before, and Jungwoo found himself a little disappointed when he didn’t come to pick up Oliver for the next few days. Jungwoo even waited outside with him a few times but Oliver would be picked up by his parents instead each time. It wasn’t for another week that Lucas came, which Jungwoo hadn’t noticed until he heard a “did you miss me?” from behind him that aided in him almost dropping his coffee. He turned around to see Lucas standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets, Oliver staring to scramble to grab his belongings.

“Hi, Lucas.”

“Hello, Jungwoo.” He took a step closer to greet him further and Jungwoo rushed to grab his wallet, pulling out a copy of the photo of the three of them and handing it to him carefully. “What’s this? Oh! Oh wow, this is so cute!” Jungwoo wanted to nod but he held it back, just staring up at him with a smile. Lucas focused back on him and thought to himself for a moment. “How old are you, Jungwoo?”

“I’m twenty-two, why do you ask?”

“Woah, really _man_? You’re older than me? I always thought you were a lot younger.”

Jungwoo squinted at the comment. “Why’s that?”

“You’re just so…” Lucas held up his hand and Jungwoo tilted his head. He held up a hand too and Lucas pressed them together, giggling. “Baby hands!”

Jungwoo repeated _baby hands_ softly and Lucas wandered off to take Oliver home. Jungwoo hesitated before he cleared his throat. “Wait…Lucas.”

He turned back to look at Jungwoo curiously, Oliver already running to wait outside the room for his hyung to finish up. Jungwoo wasn’t sure why he stopped him or why it felt like he had to, but he just stared at him for a few seconds before Lucas grinned at him. “You’re cute. That’s what I wanted to say before. You’re just so cute.” Jungwoo’s face lit up red as Lucas winked again, leaving to catch up with his little brother and let Jungwoo’s heart beat out of his chest in silence.

**Author's Note:**

> i probably should have waited until it was done to post this but i wanted to so badly shgkjds i love this fic....i love woocas so much  
> i have some dotae coming up and mayb some more markhyuck ?? we will see!!  
> talk to me on tumblr @[luk1ss](http://luk1ss.tumblr.com) or my [nct au twitter](http://twitter.com/loseloseguy)!!


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